Course details

Name: ENGL - 501

Title: SEMINAR IN AMERICAN LITERATURE: THE GOTHIC

Section: 01

Semester: Fall - 2024

Credits: 3

Description:
This course will provide an introduction to the "Gothic" mode and tradition along with recent historicist and gender theory on the Gothic. Though the focus will be American, I shall give some background on the English Gothic novel (e.g., Walpole's _The Castle of Otranto_). Moreover, I shall be giving an historical overview of this genre by showing how it developed from the early nineteenth century to the late twentieth century (maybe early 21st century!).
We shall be discussing important questions raised by recent criticism--such as how (or if) the female Gothic differs from male Gothic, how considerations of class and race enter an analysis of Gothic texts, and what makes American Gothic different from European Gothic. (Introductory hand-outs will go over Gothic conventions.) We shall define the Gothic genre according to psychological, historical, philosophical, and literary criteria.
By the end of the course, you should know what makes a "Gothic" work Gothic and also why authors employ the Gothic mode.

Last updated on 2024-03-27 By Lykidis Alexios (lykidisa)

Schedule: Monday From 5:30 pm To 8:00 pm

Graduation requirements:

• Any Literature (1e)
• Genre Study (Fiction)
• Pre-1900 American (TE 1c)
• Other American (TE 1d)
• Pre-1900 (1c)
• Women and Gender Studies (3c)
• Class Issues (3d)
• Graduate (BA/MA)

Teaching Faculty: Elbert Monika (elbertm)

Is course canceled: No